Page 30 of Devil of Vegas

Rage surges through me. I can’t stand that littlebitch. “Tipping offwho?”

“I’m not sure, but I’d wager it’s the Barones. I’d bet that’s the cover she and Natalia are using in order to talk to each other. Angelo received a few secrets about his biggest rival’s love interest, which led to Sera and Natalia having a reason to communicate openly. It makes sense. Sera believes she deserves the fame Isla received as a dancer. Now that they’ve temporarily removed Isla from the stage, Sera is trying to take her spot any way she can.”

“I’m going to kill her,” I say with an icy calmness.

“Whoa, hold off on that for now,” Luc warns. “I wouldn’t advise killing the daughter of your underboss. Yeah, she’s a manipulative little bitch, but she’s not worth fracturing the family over.”

I hate the fact that Luc is right. I prefer to solve things with the finality of a lethal, violent act. It’s cleaner that way. No loose ends to tie up. But I can’t take out Alonzo’s daughter. That would be the end of the already tenuous loyalty that my underboss has toward my empire.

I pace the room, thinking about what Angelo Barone’s big play could be. He wants nothing more than to take me down. He’s probably the one who sent that dirty cop to my penthouse to scope things out with Isla there, and he’s probably the one behind the attack that followed. If he’s gotten wind of how protective I am over Isla, then he knows she’s my weakness, and it’s only a matter of time before he tries to exploit that weakness. Iwon’tlet that happen.

“Good work,” I tell Luc. “You were right to come and tell me all of that in person.”

“What are we going to do about it?”

“At the moment,nothing.”

“What?” he asks in surprise.

“I know it sounds like an under reaction, especially for me and my usual desire to kill first and ask questions later,” I say. “But Angelo Barone is a powerful man, and taking him down requires thought and planning. And today, I’ve promised Isla that I will take her on adate.”

“You’re joking.”

“No,” I say, giving him a stern look of warning. “I’m not.”

“Look, Vincent, I get it—you really like the girl. But you’re the most powerful mafia don in all of Vegas. You can’t kneel to a woman. It willruinyou,” he says, treading lightly and trying not to enrage me by meddling in my personal affairs. “I understand what it feels like towantsomething so badly that you’re willing to risk everything for it. But you’ve got to realize that it will be your undoing.”

I look at him carefully and try to read between his words. “This isn’t the same as you admiring Leonardo Conti’s woman from afar, Luciano,” I say, calling him out on a secret infatuation that I’ve picked up on as of late. “Yours is afantasy—a woman locked away in an estate so fortified that it might as well be an ivory tower. Mine is a different situation entirely. Isla is here undermycontrol. She ismine,and only I will decide how big a role that will play in my life. Do you understand me?”

I can see him biting back his anger at my having voiced his secret aloud. But it’s just the two of us here, and he knows I won’t broadcast his hidden attraction for another man’s woman—a rival’s woman, for that matter. So, he simply nods and stops questioning me.

“Just keep an eye on things,” I say as I walk him to the door. “Talk to Gabriel at the bar and see if he can cough up any more useful information to add to what you’ve already found out. After my day with Isla, we’ll plan and confront Angelo and his crew. A three-way war between the biggest Vegas crime families is too risky. I’d like to keep the Conti’s out of my business for now, so taking down the Barones will require some tact and careful precision.”

“Whatever you say,” Luc grumbles as he turns to leave. He’s disgruntled, but he’ll get over it. Maintaining my dominance over Vegas, without further endangering Isla, is paramount. That is exactly what I intend to do.

“What was that all about?” Isla asks when she emerges from her bedroom, dressed and ready to go.

“Nothing,” I lie. “Nothing for you to worry about.”

The drive out to the red rocks is pleasant. It’s an unusual departure from my normal daily routine. Business prevents me from visiting more often than I like. Isla’s increasingly wide eyes show she’s never been here. With a dance training schedule like hers, she’s probably never been outside the strip or even the dance studio much.

“It’s breathtaking!” she says as I drive up to the base of the canyon. The red and cream-colored sandstone stretches as far as the eye can see, towering over us in steep cliffs and spanning the distance at our feet.

“Would you like to take a walk with me?” I ask.

She nods eagerly and practically jumps out of the car as soon as I park. Feeling free out here is not just about her stretching her wings and leaving the gilded cage where I kept her, but also about my liberation. Business demands, particularly regarding the Barones, leave me little time for peaceful, outdoor contemplation. Not that I’m alone now, but Isla brings me an even greater sense of peace than solitude ever has.

Her presence placates my demons. They can’t compare to the brilliant light of Isla’s pure goodness.

“Tell me more about your past,” I say, as we walk hand-in-hand along the picturesque backdrop of the canyon.

“There isn’t much to tell, not much that’sgoodanyway,” she says, shaking her head.

“I want to know about it,” I press. “I want to know what trauma in your past has made you so strong.”

“I never told you I had trauma in my past.”

“You didn’t need to. Strength like yours doesn’t grow from a flowery backstory. It grows from pain and necessity.”

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